by Courtney Vaughn The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good morning, Portland! Today’s high could get up to 90 degrees. Can’t complain about a warm sunny day, but can complain when Halloween decorations are going up and it still feels like mid-summer. 🌞🎃 While we ease into fall, let’s bask in the world’s current events. In Local News:  • The Oregon Secretary of State’s office now says they’ve identified nine “potentially ineligible voters” who likely voted in prior elections after they were mistakenly registered to vote through the Oregon DMV’s Motor Voter registration process. That figure is up from the two initially reported. According to an announcement  Monday, 1.4 million records were reviewed. Of those records, 1,259 people are believed to have been registered to vote without proper verification of eligibility due to a “data processing error” and of that group, nine non-citizens likely voted in elections they weren’t supposed to. The SoS says the voting registration for those nearly 1,260 people has been deactivated and they won’t get a ballot for the upcoming election, but they can re-register with enough time to cast a vote if they’re eligible. Despite the low number of people who likely voted in error, the hiccup has caused a stir, particularly among Republicans who demanded the governor step in and ensure the accuracy of Oregon's voter rolls. • The Portland Diamond Project–a group that’s been earnestly trying to bring a Major League Baseball stadium to the Rose City–confirmed to media outlets that it is in the process of inking a deal to buy the Zidell Yards at the South Waterfront for a future stadium. The news, first reported by Willamette Week, is a big deal for baseball enthusiasts who’ve been banging the drum about a need for a team here to reinvigorate the city’s tourism, local economy, and civic pride. The Diamond Project’s key investors are Grammy award-winning R&B musician Ciara and her husband, NFL player Russell Wilson. Craig Cheek and Mike Barrett comprise the management team.  Some baseball news — Portland Diamond Project under contract for prime South Waterfront land. MLB to PDX effort gets a win.Read: https://t.co/KWTGlremSH pic.twitter.com/N9Nm4rKaWX — John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) September 24, 2024 • Two Oregonians, including one who died, are set to receive a Carnegie Medal for their heroism earlier this year. One of the recipients is Majiah Washington. You may recall Washington as the 18-year-old who risked electrocution to rescue a baby whose parents had just died after a power line fell into a tree. Washington was outside her home in January, as the city was covered in a sheet of ice. She was on the phone with 911 after three people had just been electrocuted by downed power lines after they slipped on ice. Two of them were trying to exit their SUV that had just been pummeled by a fallen tree branch. Tajaliyah Briggs, 21, and her boyfriend DeVonte Nash, both died while trying to get to safety. Nash was carrying his son in his arms when he slipped on ice and slid into the downed power lines. Briggs, who was pregnant at the time, tried to reach for Nash and was electrocuted after touching him. Briggs' 15-year-old brother, Ta'Ron Briggs, tried to help the couple and the 9-month-old baby, but also fell and landed in a pool of water where the downed lines were. He was electrocuted and died near the couple. After Washington spotted the baby boy still lying on his father's chest, she carefully approached the area and miraculously was able to reach Nash's body without slipping or getting electrocuted. She grabbed the baby and brought it to safety. Washington, along with Ta'Ron Briggs, will receive a Carnegie Medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. The medal is awarded to "those who risk extreme danger to try to save the lives of others." 2 Oregonians receive national honor for saving baby after power line fell in January's ice storm https://t.co/iyC7LvGOmT — KGW News (@KGWNews) September 24, 2024           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Jennifer Lee (@maggiepotamus) In National/World News: • California will join the list of states that now restrict or ban smartphones in K-12 classrooms. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law Monday that requires schools to restrict the devices in classrooms. The move comes less than three months after US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy advocated for warning labels on social media sites due to their deleterious impacts on young kids and teens. Thirteen other states have already adopted similar legislation noting phones cause distractions negatively affect kids' mental health. • Next time you hear a politician or candidate use crime stats as a scare tactic to sell you on their campaign, fact check them. New FBI data shows violent crime is decreasing nationwide, with some crimes like murder and non-negligent manslaughter down 11.6 percent. The data compares crime stats from 2022 to 2023. While other crimes like vehicle theft were up by about 12.6 percent and shoplifting increased as well, the data seems promising. As was reported earlier this year, local police also recorded a drop in serious crimes. The FBI just released the Crime in the Nation 2023 report, showing an estimated 3% drop in violent crime nationwide compared to last year. Interested in the details? Check out the full report: https://t.co/WTYOnW8kbn — FBI (@FBI) September 23, 2024 • In other news, it seems the United States is perpetually at war. The Pentagon confirmed Monday that additional US troops will be deployed to the Middle East as tension rises in the region. Israeli military forces recently bombed Lebanon in an attack on Hezbollah targets there. The AP reports the US already has about 40,000 troops in the Middle East.  • We can’t stop laughing at JD Vance. It’s not because he’s funny, it’s because we now know that just like his running mate, he’s prone to saying or repeating whatever he hears in his periphery, regardless of fact. His latest blunder was a campaign stop at a grocery store in Pennsylvania, where he blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for the price of eggs jumping up to “$4” while standing in an aisle of eggs with prices that contradicted him. What’s possibly more disturbing is him noting that his children, two of whom appeared alongside him, eat “about 14 eggs every single morning.” At that rate, I think it’s clear who’s really snatching geese and ducks from local parks. Even in their own damn photo, it shows JD Vance is lying about the price of eggs. pic.twitter.com/d3gqbtqkqL — Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) September 22, 2024